Strengthened oil and gas regulations to be considered by a state review board
http://citizensvoice.com/news/new-rules-to-plumb-water-problems-1.1063833
New rules to plumb water problems
By Laura Legere (Staff Writer)
Published: November 15, 2010
Strengthened oil and gas regulations to be considered by a state review board this week will help answer an increasingly urgent question in the era of Marcellus Shale exploration: how many water supplies have been impacted by drilling activities?
Right now, no one is keeping a complete count.
The Oil and Gas Act does not require drillers to notify state regulators when landowners alert them that drinking water has been harmed by the companies’ operations.
Under current law, the Department of Environmental Protection must look into cases of potential drinking water pollution only when it is asked to investigate a problem by a landowner.
The department also does not track how often gas drillers voluntarily replace drinking water supplies, either temporarily or permanently.
“Often, homeowners and drillers work out agreements without needing the department’s assistance,” DEP spokesman Tom Rathbun said. “We get involved when we are notified of a problem, but we are not made aware of every case.”
A revised Oil and Gas Act will change that. When the new regulations go into effect, likely in January if they pass all reviews, drillers will have to notify the department within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.
An earlier draft of the revisions, which gave drillers 10 days to notify the department of a complaint, was changed after commentators on the regulations argued that was not quick enough.
The change from no notification to nearly instantaneous notification signals an increasing awareness of how often drinking water complaints go uncounted at a time when everyone from farmers to the federal government is looking for more complete information on the short- and long-term impacts of gas drilling on water resources.
Without the mandatory disclosure, critics say, voluntary arrangements can take advantage of the fact that there are disincentives for landowners to ask DEP to intervene: People may feel intimidated about pushing their complaints or fear causing any disruption to the gas companies that pay them royalties.
On some occasions gas companies, even when working side-by-side with regulators to address water complaints, have made clear efforts to keep voluntary water replacement arrangements out of the public eye.
How many problems?
There is a clear gap between the relatively small number of state orders for drillers to provide homes with replacement water and the visible proliferation of water tanks (called buffaloes), well vents, new wells, treatment systems and bottled water being delivered or installed in gas drilling regions.
After a records search in June 2009, DEP reported that there had been fewer than 80 cases of groundwater contamination caused by oil and gas drilling in the state in over 15 years, as measured by the number of official orders the agency sent to drillers to permanently restore or replace damaged water supplies.
With 32,000 oil and gas wells drilled within that time span, that amounts to a 0.25 percent incident rate – a track record the industry frequently touts.
But unofficial counts put the number of disturbed water supplies much higher.
Daniel Farnham, an environmental engineer who has tested more than 2,000 water wells in Northeastern and Northcentral Pennsylvania where Marcellus Shale drilling is under way, estimates as many as 50 homes in Bradford County alone are currently getting replacement water supplies provided by gas companies.
In Susquehanna County, Dimock Township offers a vivid example of the gap between the officially determined size of the problem and the true number of drinking water supplies that have been replaced.
DEP has ordered Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. to replace 18 water supplies – connected to 19 homes – that were tainted with methane the agency traced to faulty Cabot Marcellus Shale gas wells, a claim the company refutes.
But according to Cabot documentation provided to the department as part of the order, at least 36 Dimock residences have at some point had water supplies replaced or remediated by Cabot at least temporarily.
At the time Cabot provided DEP with its water replacement list, in June, the company had drilled 89 natural gas wells in and around Dimock – meaning Cabot remedied or replaced a water supply, on average, for more than one in every three gas well it drilled.
Cabot spokesman George Stark said the numbers reflect Cabot’s policy of investigating all water supply complaints and “when we see the immediate need” providing replacement water during an investigation. Some complaints may turn out to be unfounded, unrelated to gas drilling, or temporary disruptions that clear up on their own, he said.
Cabot, the most active driller in Susquehanna County, has removed nine homes from the list of 36 receiving water, Stark said. The company drilled one replacement water well and reconditioned three others. Five homes accepted filtration systems that are in the process of being installed.
Chesapeake Energy, the most active driller in Bradford County, did not answer a request to disclose the number of water supplies it has replaced or remediated.
‘Waiting to blow me up’
Most drillers and many landowners say voluntary arrangements for solving residential water problems are amicable, even generous.
Gary Lopez, a Dimock resident, wrote grateful letters to area newspapers thanking Cabot “for solving my water problems” by first delivering replacement water then drilling a new well after his old well “tested high for methane and barium.”
In the worst cases, though, homeowners have found gas company representatives bullying even as they appear to be helping to fix the problem.
Sherry Vargson noticed her faucets began to sputter and blow what seemed like air after Chesapeake Energy performed what workers told her was a maintenance procedure on the gas wells yards from her Granville Summit home in June.
A company contractor tested the head space in her water well and found elevated levels of methane. DEP tests a month later found the flammable gas present in her water supply at 56.3 mg/L – twice the level at which water can no longer hold the gas and releases it into the atmosphere or enclosed spaces, creating a risk of explosion.
Because pre-drilling water tests “did not find the presence of the methane gas,” DEP found that the tests indicated that gas well drilling caused the change in the water supply.
Chesapeake has provided the Vargsons with bottled water since the day in June when the company detected the gas, but despite DEP recommendations that the company install a vent stack on the well to help keep the gas from concentrating, the well is still not vented.
Instead, Chesapeake presented Vargson with an agreement in July which required the family to release the company from all claims and liabilities related to the water up until that date in exchange for installing a vent “as a precautionary measure.”
The agreement, which the Vargsons refused to sign in its original form, also included a nondisclosure clause meant to bar the family from discussing the agreement, its terms or Chesapeake’s role in providing a vent.
In a statement, Chesapeake’s senior director for corporate development, Brian Grove, said the company does not believe its activities impacted the Vargson water well, which he said was “equipped with a venting cap predating our operations” because of “pre-existing methane.” The company’s pre- and post-drilling water tests show the water “virtually unchanged,” he said – a position at odds with DEP findings reported Sept. 2.
Whenever a question is raised about any water supply, Grove said, the company “routinely provides a temporary replacement source of water as a courtesy and notifies the DEP immediately while we begin to investigate” – a process that “most often” finds that the problem is not related to drilling activity, he added.
The purpose of the legal agreements is to grant the company permission “to access the property and provide needed equipment or services” in cases where a lot of activity will be required in or near a home.
“Confidentiality clauses are common in these and many other types of agreements,” he said.
Vargson, who now sleeps with three windows open, is frustrated that the DEP has not enforced its finding linking gas drilling to her water problems, which she is not afraid to discuss.
Last week, she held a match to the sputtering water running from her kitchen faucet and a flame ran up the stream to the spout.
“All of that is aerating in here,” she said, “pocketing in the house, waiting to blow me up.”
About 20 miles across Bradford County, near Spring Lake, two Chesapeake-provided water buffaloes sit in the yard behind the over 100-year-old farmhouse owned by Jacqueline Place.
On April 1, nearly two weeks after the water to Place’s home turned cloudy then dark brown and her sister’s cows refused to drink it, a DEP inspector and Chesapeake contractors came to test the water. Chesapeake disconnected the well, filled the water buffaloes and plumbed them into the home – a project that took hours.
At around 10 p.m., the last Chesapeake contractor handed Place a document and told her he would not flip the switch on the system he had just installed unless she signed it. According to her sister, Roslyn Bohlander, the contractor told Place the document was “nothing” important and, when pressed, told her it was a non-disclosure agreement.
Place would not acknowledge the document or release it to Times-Shamrock newspapers.
“It was such a crisis point,” Bohlander said. In the previous days, Place and her son had not used the water to shower, cook or clean dishes or clothes. They took sponge baths, Bohlander said, and the cows, “they were just drinking enough to live.”
DEP and private tests have since shown elevated levels of methane and metals in the water.
“They did all they had done to make it not be a bad situation,” she said, “but then they said you can’t have this water.”
Grove said Chesapeake does not believe its operations have affected the water supply and “have not caused any reduction of quality of the water in the well.
“Repeated analyses have not detected any constituents related to natural gas drilling and production,” he said.
The company continues to provide replacement water to the Places and Bohlanders, like the Vargsons “as a courtesy,” he said, “while we work with the DEP and residents to bring closure to these matters.”
Chesapeake has told the family on three occasions, each with between 24 and 48 hours notice, that it planned to take away the buffaloes and stop the water deliveries. DEP officials have told the family they cannot stop Chesapeake from taking the water because they did not order the company to provide the water in the first place, Place said.
Bohlander said the price of a buffalo and frequent water deliveries for the cows and the home is “unaffordable.”
“We no longer have a plan B,” she said.
llegere@timesshamrock.com
Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition plans public meetings
http://citizensvoice.com/news/gas-drilling-awareness-coalition-plans-public-meetings-1.1063901
Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition plans public meetings
Published: November 15, 2010
The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition is holding two upcoming meetings, both of which are open to the public.
The first will be at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Exeter Township municipal building on Route 92 in Harding. Activist and business owner Janine Dymond and professional geologist and business owner John Samuel Mellow will speak.
The other meeting will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 on the second floor of the Exeter Borough municipal building, 1101 Wyoming Ave. Dr. Thomas Jiunta, co-founder of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, will speak at this meeting.
Space is limited, so reservations are requested: call 570-266-5116 or e-mail gdacoaliton@gmail.com.
Financing approved to build water pipeline to Dimock
http://citizensvoice.com/news/financing-approved-to-build-water-pipeline-to-dimock-1.1061757
Financing approved to build water pipeline to Dimock
By Robert Swift (Harrisburg Bureau Chief)
Published: November 10, 2010
HARRISBURG – A state infrastructure authority approved public financing Tuesday for a hotly debated water line to serve residents of Dimock Township without safe water supplies due to methane gas contamination.
The 9-2 vote by the PennVEST board provides a state grant of $11.6 million and loan of $172,000 to help Pennsylvania American Water Co. build a 12.5-mile pipeline from Lake Montrose to a neighborhood in Susquehanna County, where the state Department of Environmental Protection and Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. are at odds over whether the company’s natural gas drilling is responsible for the contamination.
The PennVEST action is a likely precursor to legal action by both Rendell administration officials who plan to sue Cabot to recover the costs of the pipeline and Cabot attorneys who said they would join any local lawsuits to block the pipeline. With Gov. Ed Rendell’s tenure nearing an end, the issue could face Gov.-elect Tom Corbett after he takes office Jan. 18.
PennVEST board chair Joseph Manko sought to keep the board’s debate and public comments focused on whether a pipeline will offer a permanent solution to the water woes facing 14 residences in Dimock with contaminated wells. They now rely on transported water or water treatment systems and worry about methane leaks because of contamination problems with their wells.
rswift@timesshamrock.com
Penn State Extension forms Marcellus Educational Consortium
http://live.psu.edu/story/49662#nw69
Penn State Extension forms Marcellus Educational Consortium
Thursday, November 4, 2010
University Park, Pa. — With more than 1,800 natural-gas wells drilled in six years, the Marcellus Shale is generating new economic opportunities for many Pennsylvania residents, businesses and communities. Numerous environmental, educational and social issues also are associated with the development of this energy resource.
In support of its efforts to disseminate research-based information on natural-gas-related issues to Pennsylvanians, Penn State Cooperative Extension has joined with several key business firms to form the Penn State Marcellus Educational Consortium. The group’s goals are to provide expertise on Marcellus topics and to facilitate discussions among community members, business leaders and others.
Leading national and regional financial-services firms Credit Suisse, PNC Bank and Fulton Financial Corp. (parent company of Fulton Bank N.A., FNB Bank, Lafayette Ambassador Bank and Swineford National Bank) are founding members of the consortium. Several other related companies are in discussions to become members of this educational partnership.
Since 2001, Penn State Cooperative Extension has conducted educational programming across the state in connection with Marcellus gas exploration. More than 60,000 people have attended workshops on various related topics, and countless more have received information from Penn State publications, online seminars, television programs and websites.
Thomas Murphy, extension educator and co-director of the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, said that providing people with well-researched information on the benefits and challenges of the Marcellus play is critical to smart, sustainable growth and development in the region. He noted that the consortium will help identify educational needs and guide the development of innovative new programming.
“The numerous effects of natural-gas development are diverse and include the very visible economic impacts,” said Murphy. “Extension conducts unbiased, science-based programs to educate people on issues ranging from water quality to tax strategies for lease and royalty income.”
Craig Weidemann, vice president for Penn State Outreach, said the educational consortium is an example of the types of partnerships Outreach facilitates to benefit Pennsylvania.
“Bringing the resources of the University together with expertise of external partners to address the needs of our commonwealth is why Outreach exists,” said Weidemann. “This educational consortium is a perfect example of a collaboration that is developed for the good of Pennsylvania citizens, communities and businesses.”
More information about how Penn State is addressing issues related to the Marcellus Shale is available at Penn State Extension’s natural-gas website and from the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research.
New state regulations to deal with gas drilling in Marcellus Shale
New state regulations to deal with gas drilling in Marcellus Shale
Friday, November 5, 2010
University Park, Pa. — As the natural-gas drilling boom into the deep Marcellus Shale formation has unfolded, state regulators have become increasingly aware of pollution risks to ground and surface water, and they have scrambled to develop regulations to protect valuable natural resources.
Two experts with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will offer details about the current regulatory environment in a free, one-hour, Web-based seminar at 1 p.m. on Nov. 18.
Presented by Penn State Cooperative Extension, the webinar will feature Dana Aunkst, director of DEP’s bureau of water standards and facilities regulation, and Eugene Pine, professional geologist manager with the agency. Online participants will have the opportunity to ask the speakers questions during the session.
“In 2010, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board amended the Pennsylvania Code to include new treatment requirements for total dissolved solids,” Aunkst said. “This final form rulemaking ensures the continued protection of the commonwealth’s water resources from new and expanded sources of total dissolved solids.”
Most importantly, Aunkst noted, the final rulemaking guarantees that state waters will not exceed a threshold of 500 milligrams per liter. “In doing so, the final rulemaking assures the continued use and protection of drinking water intakes on streams throughout the commonwealth,” he said. “That provides the required protection of aquatic life and maintains continued economic viability of the current water users.”
The final rulemaking adopts a combination of recommended approaches for addressing these larger loads of total dissolved solids, Aunkst pointed out. This combination of approaches includes an industrial-sector-based regulation along with a watershed-based analysis.
“The sector-based piece focuses on the natural-gas industry, mandating the treatment of gas-well wastewater,” he said. “This approach is based on available, proven treatment technologies for this industry and takes cost into consideration. In addition, this treatment must be performed at a centralized wastewater treatment facility to the standards in the proposed rulemaking.
“These requirements will assure that any threat of water pollution from this rapidly growing industry is prevented in accordance with the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law.”
Aunkst’s presentation will provide background on the need for the new regulation, a history of the development of the regulation and an update on the implementation of the new requirements.
In addition, Pine’s presentation will explain how his department is making changes to the regulations and will detail the proposed and final rulemaking process, including timeframes, public-comment periods and so forth.
“I will generally explain where we are in this process and then highlight the more significant revisions to the existing regulations,” he said. “The regulatory revisions emphasize, and are intended to strengthen, proper well-drilling, construction and operational practices.”
A properly cased and cemented oil or gas well is critical to protecting groundwater, public health, safety and the environment, explained Pine. Many of the regulations governing well construction were promulgated in 1989 and remain largely unchanged.
“New well-drilling and completion practices used to develop Marcellus Shale wells, as well as recent impacts to drinking water supplies and the environment by both ‘traditional’ and Marcellus Shale wells, prompted the department to re-evaluate existing requirements,” he said.
With the continued development of the oil and gas industry, the potential exists for natural gas to migrate from the wellbore by either improperly constructed wells or older, deteriorated wells, Pine noted.
“This migration could adversely affect underground sources of drinking water and pose a threat to public safety and the environment,” he said. “Accordingly, DEP has revised its well-drilling and operation regulations.”
The webinar, “Pa. DEP Regulatory Update,” is part of an ongoing series of workshops and events addressing issues related to the state’s Marcellus Shale gas boom. Information about how to register for the webinar is available at http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/webinars.
Additional one-hour webinars will be held at 1 p.m. on the following dates:
— Dec. 16: “Plumbing the Depths in Pa.: A Primer on Marcellus Shale Geology and Technology.”
— Jan. 20, 2011: “Marcellus Shale Legislation: What Was Accomplished in the 2009-10 Session and What Issues Remain to be Addressed.”
— Feb. 16, 2011: “Dealing with Gas Tax Issues: What You Need to Know.”
— March 17, 2011: “Natural Gas Well Development and Emergency Response and Management.”
Previous webinars, publications and other information on topics such as water use and quality, zoning, gas-leasing considerations for landowners and implications for local communities also are available online at http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas.
For more information, contact John Turack, extension educator in Westmoreland County, at 724-837-1402 or by e-mail at jdt15@psu.edu.
DEP Makes Oil and Gas Operations More Transparent with New Online Resources
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=15010&typeid=1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11/1/2010
DEP Makes Oil and Gas Operations More Transparent with New Online Resources
Information on Well Production, Waste Products, and Violations Now Online
HARRISBURG — For the first time, Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry production and compliance information is available online as part of the commonwealth’s ongoing effort to make the industry’s operations more transparent.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said the oil and gas public reporting website, which debuted today, allows access to production statistics for oil and gas wells in the state, including historical data. A new, separate webpage also lets users view violation data, by operator, as well as the department’s enforcement measures.
“The public reporting website will create much needed transparency that allows for citizens and policymakers to be aware of the increasing amount of natural gas being generated in Pennsylvania,” said Hanger. “This is an industrial activity that is taking place widely throughout the state. It’s important that families know what is happening in their backyards and whether or not the company drilling there has a good track record of safe and environmentally sound operations.”
The public reporting website, www.marcellusreporting.state.pa.us/ogrereports/, enables users to search all oil and natural gas production data by operator, county or a specific well number. Information on industry-generated waste can be viewed by operator, county or processing facility.
Act 15 of 2010 required Marcellus operators to report to DEP their well production totals from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 by Aug. 15. Subsequent reports on Marcellus production are due every six months. All other oil and gas production besides Marcellus wells must be reported annually.
“It is absolutely essential for the oil and gas industry to be excellent in their operations to protect public health and our environment,” Hanger said. “This information will allow the public to see which operators are leading the way in a safe and environmentally conscious manner and which ones need to address their operating procedures.”
The violation, inspection, and enforcement information is available for 2008 through 2010 to date, including resolved violations for the three-year span. Information for 2010 is available year-to-date or monthly. To view the violation reports, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us and click on the button that says “Gas Well Violations.”
For more information about oil and gas operations in Pennsylvania, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us and click on “Oil and Gas.”
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120
CONTACT:
Jamie Legenos, Department of Environmental Protection
717-787-1323
Marcellus Shale workshop planned for Nov. 16 in Dunmore
http://citizensvoice.com/news/marcellus-shale-workshop-planned-for-nov-16-1.1059322
Published: November 4, 2010
Marcellus Shale workshop planned for Nov. 16
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County will host a Marcellus Shale natural gas workshop, “Marcellus Shale and Pipelines – Understanding the Infrastructure Development,” from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at the Worthington Scranton Campus in Dunmore.
Participants will gain a greater understanding of pipeline infrastructure, regulation and safety, and needs to address as a landowner and community member with property in the Marcellus Shale region.
There will be a discussion on the background and need for pipeline development in the Marcellus region, various regulations and safety issues, and the legalities of right-of-way agreements. A question-and-answer session will follow.
The program, part of a five-part series, is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Call Penn State Lackawanna County Extension Office at 570-963-6842 by Friday, Nov. 12.
THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD ON MONDAY, NOV. 8, 2010
THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD ON MONDAY, NOV. 8, 2010
The Guardians normally meet on the second Monday of each month at 5:30 pm at the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency building, 1264 Emergency Ln., Nesquehoning, PA. The meetings are open to the public and we cordially invite you to attend. To check that there has been no change in the meeting schedule or to be put on CCGG’s mailing list, please send us an email. We will send out any change to the meeting schedule.
For our location map and driving directions to our meeting, click HERE.
Rare blood disorder
http://www.tnonline.com/node/147135
Rare blood disorder
Study will look at air and water quality
Reported on Friday, October 29, 2010
By DONALD R. SERFASS dserfass@tnonline.com
DONALD R. SERFASS/TIMES NEWS Members of the Tri-County Polycythemia Vera Citizens Advistory Committee pose questions late Thursday to experts who will study the local air and water quality. From left: CAC chairman and Tamaqua Mayor Chris Morrison; Mark Ioos, vice president, Skelly and Loy, Harrisburg; Peter Jaran, engineer, Equity Environmental Engineering, Flanders, NJ; and Joe Murphy, CAC member.
A New Jersey firm will oversee a regional air and water quality study to try and find out why there is a higher then normal incidence of a rare blood disease in the local area.
The study, the first of a multifaceted investigation, comes about after cases of polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer, have surfaced in clusters at an unusually high rate in Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties.
Peter Jaran of Equity Environmental Engineering, Flanders, N.J., will serve as project manager and will employ the expertise of a project team to include Skelly & Loy, an environmental consulting firm in Harrisburg; and Princeton Somerset Group, a firm headed by Dr. Dennis M. Stainken, providing expertise in the field of toxicology, health issues, chemical exposures, contamination and other issues.
DONALD R. SERFASS/TIMES NEWS “This is very personal to the community. We need to have open lines of communication,” says Peter Jaran, left, on Thursday at Tamaqua Borough Hall. Jaran, an environmental engineer from New Jersey, will serve as project manager in an air and water quality study as part of an investigation into a rare blood disorder that surfaced two years ago in Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties. Shown right is Joe Murphy, Hometown, of the Citizens Advisory Committee.
The study will be funded through part of the $8M earmarked by Sen. Arlen Specter.
“We were awarded the contract with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) at the end of September,” said Jaran.
On Thursday, members of the Tri-County Polycythemia Vera Community Advisory Committee (CAC) took Jaran and Mark B. Ioos, vice president, Skelly and Loy, on a tour of the local area. The session was followed by a meeting at Tamaqua Borough Hall in which Jaran outlined the course of action and answered questions posed by CAC members. Tamaqua Mayor Chris Morrison serves as chairman of the CAC and moderated the session.
The goal of the assessment is to identify possible contributing factors of the PV cases and related myeloproliferative diseases (MPDs) and their possible link to environmental conditions in the area.
The discussion mentioned factors such as the presence of Superfund sites in the area, along with fly ash trucking and storage, and a wide variety of other industries such as co-gen plants, gas plants and manufacturers, and even the existing fluff pile in Hometown.
“We were originally looking at the drinking water,” revealed Jaran, noting that “the first step is that we have to take a look at the (existing) data. How does each one of the environmental aspects impact the human body.”
Hydrogeology has been identified as task one of the project, followed by air pollution exposure assessment. Air assessment will evaluate present and past exposures of cluster-area residents to specific air pollutants, including factors such as topography and air emission. Task three will focus on community interaction, including a working relationship with the CAC.
“This is very personal to the community,” said Jaran. “We need to have open lines of communication.”
That view was echoed by Morrison, who stressed the importance of timely dissemination of information to the public.
CAC members posed a wide variety of questions to Jaran and Ioos. For example, Hometown resident Joe Murphy, longtime advocate for a health and environment, asked Jaran if his firm or any of its clients might be seen as having a conflict of interest regarding aspects of the local study, including its outcome. Jaran said no, explaining that the potential issue already had been explored at Equity Environmental Engineering.
The air and water assessment study and other related studies will extend through 2011 and 2012.
During the business portion of the meeting, CAC members approved a request to the CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for $25,000 in operational funding for both years.
Other studies are forthcoming. For example, Drexel University investigators will use a case control study to try and determine factors that may contribute to the PV cluster in the Tamaqua-Hazleton area by examining environmental and occupational histories of patients with PV and MPD-related disease and comparing them with those free of the diseases.
A University of Pittsburgh team will conduct a study that will compare PV rates in the Tamaqua-Hazleton area to those in four counties in the western Pennsylvania coal region to look for similarities and differences in the two areas that might provide clues to the causes of the disease.
Help For Homeowners To Install Money-Saving Geothermal
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=14950&typeid=1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10/27/2010
CONTACT:
Michael Smith, Department of Environmental Protection
717-787-1323
Pennsylvania Expands Keystone HELP Loan Program to Help Homeowners Install Money-Saving Geothermal Systems
New Program Puts Federal Recovery Act Funds to Work Creating Jobs, Producing Clean Energy
HUMMELSTOWN, DAUPHIN CO. — Pennsylvania homeowners who want to cut their heating and cooling bills in half now have a new, affordable method for financing clean geothermal heat pump systems, Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger and Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord announced today.
The officials said a new Keystone Home Energy Loan Program option offers low-interest loans that are combined with companion loans given in anticipation of federal tax credits for fuel-conserving geothermal systems.
Hanger and McCord made the announcement while visiting the home of Peter and Laurel Hartwell, who are using Cleona-based G.F. Bowman Inc. to install a geothermal heat pump system.
The program is made possible with $5 million from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and could help as many as 750 homeowners purchase geothermal systems. Installing the systems will create hundreds of jobs for contractors like G.F. Bowman.
“Geothermal really is one of the great, largely untapped forms of renewable energy that is available to us,” said Secretary Hanger. “Fortunately, more consumers are recognizing this and are making the smart decision to put geothermal systems in their homes. This program will make sure more families have access to this clean, money-saving technology by offering new financing options. That’s good news for consumers, our economy and our environment.”
The secretary added that by taking advantage of these federal and state incentives, geothermal systems can pay for themselves within only five to 10 years.
“Keystone HELP is a triple winner: families can make energy efficiency improvements to their homes that save money and reduce energy use, the commonwealth earns a secure return, and the program creates good-paying, much-needed jobs for local installers, contractors, and manufacturers,” Treasurer McCord said. “Less pollution, lower costs, and more jobs—good work on three fronts.”
Under the new geothermal loan program, qualifying homeowners can take advantage of an unsecured 4.99 percent loan for up to $15,000 with a term of up to 10 years. McCord noted that homeowners can also elect to take an optional “tax credit anticipation loan” equal to the expected 30-percent federal tax credit up to a maximum of $10,000. The HELP program will make the first 12 monthly payments of the tax credit anticipation loan and homeowners can use the tax credit they receive to pay the remainder of the loan without any prepayment penalties.
Other special financing is available to homeowners who install a geothermal heat pump system as part of a comprehensive “whole house” improvement project recommended through a certified energy audit. In this case, qualifying homeowners can obtain a secured Keystone HELP loan for up to $35,000 with rates as low as 2.875 percent.
All work financed through Keystone HELP must be completed by a certified local contractor.
“This program is another great example of how the federal stimulus program is helping us build a green economy in Pennsylvania while encouraging private investment and putting people to work,” said Hanger. “To date, the federal stimulus has directed more than $136 million to our state for clean energy projects like wind and solar, plus another $253 million to help consumers save money by weatherizing their homes. And we’ve leveraged those funds to attract about $1 billion in private investment.
“These are good investments in our economy that will pay dividends for decades to come, not only through lower utility bills, but also through cleaner air and cleaner water.”
Created in 2006 by the Pennsylvania Treasury and AFC First Financial Corp. of Allentown, Keystone HELP offers affordable energy efficiency financing options, including rebates and low-interest loans, enabling homeowners to purchase and install energy efficient equipment or undertake improvements to cut energy use.
Keystone HELP began offering even lower rate loans in 2009, when Treasury partnered with DEP to expand the program’s impact by using funds provided under Pennsylvania’s 2008 Alternative Energy Investment Act.
Keystone HELP has helped more than 7,000 homeowners finance more than $58 million in money-saving home improvements. Visit www.keystonehelp.com to learn more or to apply for a loan.
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120